• Despite the late start of season reported in Lesotho, southern and central Mozambique, eastern South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and southern Zimbabwe, much of the region received significant rains during December 20 ... more
  • Despite the late start of season reported in Lesotho, southern and central Mozambique, eastern South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and southern Zimbabwe, much of the region received significant rains during December 2008, alleviating fears of another drought in Southern Africa. Good rains have continued throughout January over most parts of the region, with the exception of the northern and eastern parts of Tanzania, where drought conditions are being experienced. In Tanzania, vuli rains have performed poorly, and crop failure is reported in the coastal bi-modal areas of the country. Dry conditions in the eastern unimodal areas are also threatening the msimu harvest.
  • As the hunger season progresses, food availability and access are increasingly problematic across the region. Many households now face difficulties in accessing adequate quantities of food due to depletion of stocks, dwindling market supplies, and high and rising food prices. Those households identified as food insecure (or at risk for part of the year) in the May/June 2008 VAC assessments are the worst affected. Generally, the number of people requiring food assistance has increased compared to the June 2008 VAC estimates. For example, in Zambia, the population in need of food assistance from January to April 2009 has increased 50 percent to about 674,500 people, while in Mozambique it has gone up to 450,000 (from 362,000). However, in Malawi, the figure has declined from 1.5 million to 674,000.
  • In general, populations in need have thus far not received adequate assistance through ongoing intervention programs, due to persistent under resourcing. In Mozambique for instance, if pipeline supplies do not improve, WFP will only meet 55 percent of needs between January and April, leaving needy populations in selected districts of Manica, Tete, and Gaza provinces without food assistance from February through April. Similarly, in Zambia, undersupplied pipelines mean assistance cannot meet the needs of both the old and new caseloads for the period February to March. In Zimbabwe, the inadequacy of available food stocks necessitated the reduction of cereal rations from 12.5 kg per person to 10 kg per person.

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